Wallace Collection Online - Allegory Commemorating the Accomplishment of the Vow of Louis XIII

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Philippe Bertrand (1663 - 1724) Thomas Bernard (1650 - 1713), first medal After Jérôme Roussel (1663 - 1713), second medal Jean Mauger (1648 - 1722), third medal Allegory Commemorating the Accomplishment of the Vow of Louis XIII France: Date: 1714
1672 (third medal)

Object Type: Statuette

Medium: Bronze and gilt-bronze. Marble and brass base

Height: Statuette, 46.9 cm
Height: Base, 9.3 cm
Width: Base, 43.2 cm
Weight: 31720 g

Inv: S176

Location: East Galleries I

In 1714, the French Academy offered a poetry prize on the subject of the vow made by Louis XIII in 1638 to redecorate the choir of Notre-Dame if a son were born to him (as indeed happened that year). The winner of the prize was the now forgotten abbé du Jarry, while the runner-up was the young Voltaire, who subsequently ridiculed du Jarry’s work. This sculpture was the prize. It comprises allegorical figures of Religion (left), Piety (right) and Fame (above) with an angel (below). Fame trumpets the achievement, while the other figures hold medals bearing busts of Louis XIII and Louis XIV and images relating to the vow and to the Academy itself.

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